Day 5 - A Day of Contrasts - Alpine Village to Penguins to Beaches
 
Early morning saw a slightly grumpy Nicola and a refreshed Adam awake to glorious mountains and a vast lake stretching out in front of them . Prior to us falling asleep Nicola was fretting - talking of youths pushing the van into the lake; possums attacking us on mass forcing us to hand over her chocolate bars. All this anxiety had led to two things Adam sleeping soundly and Nicola not. Miss Grumpypants was not happy it was going to be a long day. This however did not take away from our surroundings it was beautiful, majestic mountains all around us, trees going through the autumnal changes and we were the only people there. A short drive and we were in the village full of holiday homes and no-one stirring. The village does not come alive until ski season some 5 weeks away and the snow was only just beginning to make a noticeable impression on the slopes around us.
 
The plan for today had changed instead of heading towards Queenstown it was to the coast and the town of Dundedin then down the coastline as far as we could until tiredness took a hand. Heading out from our resting spot we realised the dramatic landscape we had driven through the night before and not seen any of it . The journey southeast meant leaving behind the mountain ranges and moving into flatter floodplain land. The land here has been altered through power stations and the dams created to feed their needs. A constant theme to these huge lakes is the brilliant turquoise colour from a distance you can see the colour reflected in the sky it is quite a sight. The traditional porridge spot this time was at Fisherman's Bend between Lake Aviemore and Lake Waitaki - wonderful. Just after breakfast we spotted a caravan of sheep making there way across a trail on the other side of the hill very random. Making haste we drove through the countryside reminiscent of the good old rolling hills of England towards the coastal town of Oamaru and a date with a colony of Penguins. Unfortunately the penguins couldn't come out to play until much later that afternoon. So we had to move on down the east coast towards Dunedin and another bunch of penguins. Stopping enroute at the Moeraki Boulders - odd shaped rocks made millions of years ago from lime crystals within surrounding mudstone (well that's what it said in the book anyway) . To us they looked like something from Jurassic Park. Dunedin was something of a surprise and a shock to the system having travelled for many miles without seeing any sign of human life we were confronted with a modern bustling seaside town. The penguins were playing hard to get and the drive to our date with them was at the end of the Otago Peninsula some 30 km from the town centre.

These particular penguins are the yellow eyed variety and are resident upon farming land in purpose built nesting shelters. The idea behind this project is to increase numbers and knowledge of this rarest of penguins. The concept is pretty novel the nesting sites are on grazing land used by sheep and the whole area is crisscrossed by tunnels and viewing hides. Our guide was hugely enthusiastic and made the whole experience very enjoyable. That is unless you are claustrophobic (sorry Nik) and then the tour becomes something of a nightmare as the half light draws in and we are still zigzagging across the field chasing the elusive penguin. The personality of the penguins and the anthropomorphisisation of these characters by the guide regaling tales of lust, adultery, violence and above all love (or snog as our guide kept saying!) thy neighbour tradition amongst the colony left quite a lasting impression. It was just like Eastenders. Leaving our feathered friends it was back on the road to another campsite in the dark. This time at a place called Kaka Point where the noise of the ocean was unbelievable and we rested our heads listening to this magical sound . (And if you were Nik wondering whether those youths were going to knock our van over?)
 
Day 6 - The remoteness of the Catlins National Park and Ocean road
 
After attempting to move the grey campsite cat from coming with us and doing the usual morning duty of 'waste disposal'....nice!, we set off to look at the ocean that had so loudly roared at us all night! The coastal drive and beaches reminded us so much once again of home, especially the west coast of the IOW and on heading towards Nugget Point, I had visions of the drive to the Needles! Parking up, we hiked up towards the lighthouse only to spot fur seals playfully swimming in the rock pools below, it was just wonderful! Nugget point, which is famous for being one of the in only places in the world where different species of seal co-exist, is a pretty dramatic area of the coastline, made up of nugget style lumps of rocks suitably dumped within the oceans edge.... On return to the camper we heard loud barking style noises and saw about 15 seals, possibly elephant seals mixed with fur seals, playfully swimming (and some attempting to sleep!) in the crashing gulley inlet within the coastline below, perfectly camouflaged against the rocks, hence why we had missed them previously .
 
After poached eggs on toast! on the beach overlooking the point, we headed further into the rain forest that is the Catlins National Park. They say that this area offers the 'unusual side' to NZ and in a way that is right, it felt very bizarre to see not a mountain in sight, but instead be confronted with rolling grassy hills like home, forest and more sheep! On route we stopped and hiked within the rainforest to view Matai and Horseshoe falls, then continued along the coast climbing higher to look at beautiful lookouts, beaches, harbours and lakes where the forest meets the sea. On reaching almost the most southerly point of New Zealand, the roads were now mere rough tracks (even though we were following what was called a highway!) which seemed to go on endlessly and with not a soul in sight except a few sheep, it really did feel remote! On finally reaching a village, i.e. village hall and 3 houses, we came to a sealed road at last and continued on towards the port town of Invercargill, where humans (and farmers with their dogs!) came back into existence, this then ended the national park.

We decided to head on in the dark to Te Anau and on arriving in Invercargill, I finally got my first mobile signal for a few days to open up a text from my best uni mate Alex to say that Dave had asked her to marry him and that she was now engaged!! WICKED news, CONGRATS again both!! 3 engagements in one month, JUST perfect and means lots of celebrating when we get home, wahoo! Smiling all the way to Te'Anau, we finally rested up on a campsite in the middle of a roundabout on the lakeside ready to head for the Milford Sound the next day.